Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Malaysia'sCabinet has approved legal amendments that will allow college and universitystudents to participate in political activities on campus.

The amendments to the Universities andUniversity Colleges Act (UUCA) 1971 will involve abolishing sections whichcurtail students' questioning of politicians and prevent students from engagingin party events where they study, said Malaysian Education Minister MaszleeMalik in a media statement.

He said this move is in line with the politicaltransformation brought by the government in strengthening democracy and toprovide more room for university students to speak up and engage in political activitieson campus.

This move will also produce graduates who are"balanced" and able to "express opinions" on currentissues, he said.

The Malaysian government has also announcedplans to lower the voting age to 18 years old, from 21 years old currently.

The UUCA provisions were tightened up torestrict student activism in 1975, after the landmark Baling protests of December 1974.

That was when thousands of university studentsdemonstrated in the small town of Baling, Kedah, in solidarity with rubbertappers who were struggling to make ends meet after global rubber pricescollapsed.

They were led by then-prominent studentactivists like Malaysia’s current prime minister-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim andsocial activist Hishamuddin Rais.

Since 1975, the restrictions have applied tostudents not only at public universities, but also at private higher educationinstitutions, polytechnics, community colleges and teacher institutes.

Maszlee said that the draft bill on theproposed amendment of several UUCA provisions is expected to be tabled at thecountry’s current Parliament session, which will end in mid-December.-VNA